Timeline of Events
1933–1938
Hitler reviews an SA parade as it passes in front of the Dortmund theater. —Mahn- und Gedenkstaette Steinwache Dortmund
1933–1938
Following the appointment of Adolf Hitler as German chancellor on January 30, 1933, the Nazi state (also referred to as the Third Reich) quickly became a regime in which citizens had no guaranteed basic rights. The Nazi rise to power brought an end to the Weimar Republic, the German parliamentary democracy established after World War I. In 1933, the regime established the first concentration camps, imprisoning its political opponents, homosexuals, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and others classified as “dangerous.” Extensive propaganda was used to spread the Nazi Party’s racist goals and ideals. During the first six years of Hitler’s dictatorship, German Jews felt the effects of more than 400 decrees and regulations that restricted all aspects of their public and private lives.
Browse “1933–1938”
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The Nazi Party assumes control of the German state.
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President Hindenburg suspends constitutional protections in Germany.
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The SS establishes the Dachau concentration camp in March 1933.
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Members of the Nazi Party and its affiliated organizations organize a nationwide boycott of Jewish-owned businesses in Germany.
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German law excludes Jews and other political opponents from civil service positions.
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The Law against Overcrowding in Schools and Universities limits the number of Jewish students in public schools.
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Books deemed "un-German" are publicly burned throughout Germany.
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New German law mandates the forced sterilization of certain individuals with physical and mental disabilities.
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German Jewish organizations join together to form the Reichsvertretung der deutschen Juden.
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New German law forbids non-“Aryans” to work in journalism.
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A new German law allows courts to order indefinite imprisonment.
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Hitler orders the purge of the top leadership of the SA, the Nazi Party paramilitary formation.
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Adolf Hitler becomes President of Germany.
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Hitler becomes the absolute dictator of Germany.
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The German government bans all organizations of the Jehovah's Witness Christian denomination.
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Revision of Paragraphs 175 and 175a facilitates the systematic persecution of homosexual men in Nazi Germany.
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The Nuremberg Laws of 1935 herald a new wave of antisemitic legislation that brings immediate and concrete segregation.
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The Nazi dictatorship camouflages its racist, militaristic character while hosting the Summer Olympics.
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Owens' victory in the 100-meter dash is the first of four gold medals he wins at the 1936 Olympic games.
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Buchenwald becomes one of the largest concentration camps established within the old German borders of 1937.
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Josef Goebbels and Julius Streicher open the antisemitic exhibition Der Ewige Jude (The Eternal Jew) at the library of the German Museum in Munich, Germany.
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On March 11–13, 1938, German troops invade Austria and incorporate Austria into the German Reich in what is known as the Anschluss.
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An American woman describes what she witnessed as Hitler entered Vienna.
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Hungary adopts comprehensive anti-Jewish laws and measures.
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Delegates from 32 countries attend a conference in Evian, France, to discuss the growing refugee crisis.
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A new German law requires Jews bearing first names of “non-Jewish” origin to adopt an additional name: “Israel” for men and “Sara” for women.
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Germany, Italy, Great Britain, and France sign the Munich agreement.
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The Reich Ministry of the Interior invalidates all German passports held by Jews. Jews must surrender their old passports, which will become valid only after the letter “J” has been stamped on them.
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In a nationwide pogrom called Kristallnacht, members of the Nazi Party and other Nazi formations burn synagogues, loot Jewish homes and businesses, and kill at least 91 Jews.
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Robert Harlan witnessed Kristallnacht. He recorded his observations while traveling to help the parents of a Jewish friend whose house was ransacked.
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A new German decree closes all Jewish-owned businesses.
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In desperation, Jewish parents send their unaccompanied children abroad to escape Nazi persecution.
